Evenepoel, Roglic, Pogacar and co.: These are the stars' race calendars
Sebastian Lindner
· 03.01.2024
The racing calendar of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Last season, things went well for Jonas Vingegaard pretty much right. He won the Tour de France and would probably also have won the Vuelta if it hadn't been for the order from the team to let Sepp Kuss go first. So why do anything differently?
That seems to be the motto of the Dane, whose 2024 racing programme looks almost exactly the same as last year. He will start his season at O Gran Camino as he did in 2023. He won three of the four stages of the newly launched tour - the fourth was neutralised due to the weather. He is aiming for something similar in the new year. Following the small Spanish race, the Dane headed to Paris-Nice. This year there will be the parallel event Tirreno-Adriatico be.
The Tour of the Basque Country and the Criterium du Dauphine - both of which saw him top the podium in the overall standings in 2023 - will then take Vingegaard to the highlight of the season. The Tour of France the 27-year-old wants to win for the third time in a row. After that - as in the previous year - only the Vuelta. The double is due in 2024. Whether there is still room for 2024 Olympics will certainly also depend on the outcome of the Tour. And on whether he even makes it into the strong Danish team on the classic course. He has certainly shown interest. His participation in the World Championship on the other hand, is likely.
Vingegaard's planned programme at a glance
- 22-25 February: O Gran Camino
- 4-10 March: Tirreno-Adriatico
- 1-6 April: Tour of the Basque Country
- 2-9 June: Criterium du Dauphine
- 29 June - 21 July: Tour de France
- 3 August: Olympic Road Race Paris
- 17 August - 8 September: Vuelta a Espana
- 29 September: World Championship Road Race Zurich
The racing calendar of Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)
The Spanish one-day race with gravel character Jaen Paraiso Interior was the start of Tadej Pogacar This year, the Slovenian will collect his first kilometres of racing at its big sister. The 25-year-old will start his Classics campaign at the Strade Bianche at the beginning of March, which will look a little slimmer in 2024 than the year before. Milan-San Remo will be part of it, as will Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where he wants to claim the victory that eluded him last year due to a crash and a broken hand.
In between, two more tours await with the Tour of Catalonia and perhaps also Tirreno-Adriatico. Pogacar needs them to prepare for his balancing act. In addition to the victories in the spring Monuments - which will be joined by the Tour of Lombardy in October - he is aiming for the double. Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.
Reclaiming the Tour crown and making his Giro debut are priorities on the Slovenian's racing calendar, but he would also love to add to his list of Monument victories. Olympic gold and the title at the World Championships are also high on Pogacar's agenda, which means he will have to be in top form for most of the season.
Pogacar's planned programme at a glance
- 2 March: Strade Bianche
- 4-10 March: Tirreno-Adriatico
- 16 March: Milan-San Remo
- 18-24 March: Tour of Catalonia
- 21 April: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
- 4-26 May: Giro d'Italia
- 29 June - 21 July: Tour de France
- 3 August: Olympic Road Race Paris
- 13 September: Grand Prix de Quebec
- 15 September: Grand Prix de Montreal
- 29 September: World Championship Road Race Zurich
- 12 October: Tour of Lombardy
The race calendar of Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe)
When, how and where the new captain of Bora-Hansgrohe will start the season will probably not be revealed until his new employer's media day on 10 January. But what the Slovenian will be working towards has long been clear. Primoz Roglic wants to finally win the Tour de France. And because the 34-year-old is slowly running out of time to do so, everything is subordinated to this goal.
Last year, Roglic opened with Tirreno-Adriatico. Victory should not go unmentioned. But he won everything he took under his wheels up until the Vuelta anyway. That included the Tour of Catalonia and the Giro d'Italia in the spring, but his preparation is likely to be different this year due to the change in goal.
However, there are increasing signs that Roglic will definitely be competing in Paris-Nice and the Tour of the Basque Country, as GCN reports. A start at the Criterium du Dauphine is also planned. Nothing more is known as yet. However, he will also be interested in the Olympic Games. Roglic also competed in Tokyo in 2021 - he would even be the defending champion in the individual time trial.
Roglic's planned programme at a glance
- 3-10 March: Paris-Nice
- 1-6 April: Tour of the Basque Country
- 2-9 June: Criterium du Dauphine
- 29 June - 21 July: Tour de France
- 27 July: Olympic individual time trial Paris
- 3 August: Olympic Road Race Paris
The race calendar of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step)
In 2024, fans will get what they have wanted to see for years: The battle of the four great cyclists for victory in the Tour de France. Because in addition to Vingegaard, Pogacar and Roglic, for the first time Remco Evenepoel at the start of the tour.
The Belgian starts his season in Portugal at the Figueira Classic, followed by the Algarve tour. Next stop is Paris-Nice, before a third consecutive victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. If he succeeds, the 23-year-old would be the first since Moreno Argentin in the 80s to win three times in a row. The Tour of the Dauphine will then be the second highlight, the Tour, where Evenepoel is not yet aiming for the big win.
Unlike the Olympic time trial, where gold is very much on the cards. Even double gold could be a possibility - that would also be historic. And is unrivalled to date. Fabian Cancellara 2008 with gold against the clock and silver on the road and Jan Ullrich eight years earlier were only close. After the Games, Evenepoel should try to do the same at the World Championships in Zurich if he has any energy left. He will at least want to defend his time trial title. The Vuelta is not on his agenda this year.
Evenepoel's planned programme at a glance
- Figueira Classic (10 February)
- Tour of the Algarve (14 to 18 February)
- Paris-Nice (3 to 10 March)
- Tour of the Basque Country (1 to 6 April)
- Amstel Gold Race (14 April)
- Fleche Wallonne (17 April)
- Liège-Bastogne-Liège (21 April)
- Criterium du Dauphine (2 to 9 June)
- Belgian Time Trial Championships (19 June)
- Belgian Road Championships (23 June)
- Tour de France (29 June to 21 July)
- Olympic time trial (27 July)
- Olympic road race (3 August)
- World Cycling Championships Zurich Individual Time Trial (22 September)
- World Cycling Championships Zurich Road Race (29 September)
The racing calendar of Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)
With two victories and five second places - each behind Mathieu van der Poel - the Wout van Aert into his last three cross-country races of the winter. He doesn't allow himself a real break after that. As early as mid-February, he opens at Jaen Paraiso Interior his road season. Until the end of the month, he will be at the start of the Tour of the Algarve and the Openings Weekend before the Belgian continues with the other major cobbled classics at the end of March.
Van Aert has the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix as well as his première at the Giro d'Italia in May firmly marked on his calendar. It remains to be seen what his goals will be at the start. Everything from attacking the top 5 in the overall standings to chasing stages has already been part of the rumour mill. But there is no doubt that these are big plans. After all, the 29-year-old is foregoing the Tour de France for the Giro.
He does not want to return to racing until after the Tour of France. In the road race at the Olympic Games, the aim is to defend silver from Tokyo - at the very least. The same task awaits him at the World Championships. But then van Aert also has the Vuelta in his legs, where he will act as a noble helper for Vingegaard. The significantly thinned-out classics programme compared to last year may make it possible.
Van Aerts' planned programme at a glance
- 12 February: Jaen Paraiso Interior
- 14-18 February: Tour of the Algarve
- 24 February: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- 25 February: Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne
- 22 March: E3 Saxo Classic
- 24 March: Gent-Wevelgem
- 27 March: Across Flanders
- 31 March: Tour of Flanders
- 7 April: Paris-Roubaix
- 4-26 May: Giro d'Italia
- 27 July: Olympic time trial Paris
- 3 August: Olympic Road Race Paris
- 17 August - 8 September: Vuelta a Espana
- 22 September: World Championship individual time trial Zurich
- 29 September: World Championship Road Race Zurich
The racing calendar of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
The dominator of the cyclo-cross season, who has won all eight races in which he has competed so far, will be looking to prove his worth with his sixth World Cross-Country Championship title at the title fights in the Czech Republic from the winter adventure. Until the seventh rainbow jersey in the mud Mathieu van der Poel at least keep going. Because that is the current record held by Erik De Vlaeminck. The Belgian won back-to-back cross-country titles in the 1960s and 70s.
Barely a week later, his road season begins in Portugal at the Figureira Champions Classic. The 28-year-old will only allow himself short breaks after that. At Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix, he wants to defend his two monuments from the previous year and recapture the title at the Tour of Flanders. The Dutchman must therefore remain in top form until the beginning of April. After that, van der Poel will probably take it easy for the time being.
However, it is unclear for how long. His "North Star" of the season is the Olympic Games, he told the Gazzetta dello Sport. He has not yet decided whether he will ride the road race, fight for gold on his mountain bike or take home two medals. And whether the Tour de France fits into one of these plans is also not yet certain. If van der Poel wants to, there will definitely be room in the Alpecin team.
The World Championships on the road await at the end of September. The next rainbow double, i.e. holding the titles in cross and on the road at the same time as in 2023, should also be interesting for van der Poel once again.
Van der Poel's planned programme at a glance
- 10 February: Figueira Champions Classic
- 14-18 February: Tour of the Algarve
- 4-10 March: Tirreno-Adriatico
- 16 March: Milan-San Remo
- 24 March: Gent-Wevelgem
- 31 March: Tour of Flanders
- 7 April: Paris-Roubaix
- 29 July: Olympic mountain bike race Paris
- 3 August: Olympic Road Race Paris
- 29 September: World Championship Road Race Zurich
